Convenient Coffee: New research commissioned by Nestlé Professional® , titled ‘Mind the Gap: Driving Frictionless Coffee To-Go Experiences’, has found that a coffee shop is no longer the stop of choice for a coffee to-go with over eight in ten consumers preferring to pick up a coffee from a self-service machine in a shop or forecourt. Three-quarters of Brits now drink at least one cup of coffee out-of-home a week and nine in ten consumers now buy coffee to-go. Consumers continue to seek out Convenient Coffee, whether they’re popping to the supermarket or filling up with petrol. The trend has been labelled as ‘frictionless convenience.
In fact, the top 4 times when consumers are likely to buy a coffee on-the-go are:
- When it’s the nearest coffee on offer
- For a treat
- When it’s cheaper than a coffee shop
- When they are travelling to work
The research study of 1,500 consumers also explores consumer attitudes towards payments in the convenience sector and found that nine out of ten consumers now buy coffee to-go and nearly half prefer to purchase it when it is offered from a well-known brand.
Whilst, more than a fifth (22%) of customers have become so used to technology speeding up shopping experiences that they no longer expect to have to queue to make payments. The optimum ‘Convenience Gap’, (the time consumers are willing to wait after ordering) for takeaway products, such as coffee, is between two and three minutes.
Two thirds [62%] would be more likely to buy coffee to-go if they could use their own cup.
This is an ideal time for brands to communicate their key messages to consumers and the research found that sustainability should be top of the list. Consumers are currently seeking out the ‘feel good factor’ that comes with buying an environmentally-sound product, as demonstrated by some of the additional findings in the report:
- Two thirds [62%] would be more likely to buy coffee to-go if they could use their own cup.
- Nearly four in 10 [39%] coffee lovers say they try to buy coffee to-go responsibly but sometimes don’t feel they are able to.
- One third [37%] assume bigger brand coffee is responsibly sourced.
- The majority [57%] would use a reusable cup If they could get a discount on future coffee purchases.
- The majority of consumers [51%] would be more likely to choose convenience coffee if there was no queue.
Convenient Coffee
‘The key is to increase spend per basket and sell higher margin products, such as coffee to-go, as part of the shop’, said consumer behavioural expert, Kate Cooper-Fay, CEO of CXY Ltd. ‘The Convenient Coffee to-go proposition also provides an opportunity to make the convenience space a destination in its own right. With higher quality coffee to-go offerings making an appearance, I expect we may even see a shift to coffee purchasing being the main reason people visit a convenience store, which is why it’s essential to get the offering right.’
The report includes top tips for convenience retailers including, the benefits of sampling to educate consumers on the taste, the importance of relevant POS with clear branding that brings provenance as well as brand identity to drive Convenient Coffee revenues for retailers.
‘Frictionless convenience, where the consumer can enjoy almost instant gratification in a fast, easy and personalised shopping experience, is a trend gathering serious pace’, Kate Alexander, Head of Channel – Leisure & On The Go at Nestlé Professional®, said. ‘Millennials and Gen Z in particular are driving an on-demand and increasingly technological culture where convenience is redefined as services that are available at the push of a button, anytime, anywhere. On-the-go retail spaces fulfil this need by providing easy access to goods as part of an accelerated lifestyle.’
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